US conspicuously missing as most significant player at 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in Spain

* Amid President Donald Trump’s cancellation of more than 80% funding of USAID programmes in January

* As the once-in-a-decade UN conference on development aid kicks off in Seville with at least 50 world leaders attending

* To address global concerns, including hunger, climate change and healthcare led by UN Secretary General António Guterres

Al Jazeera

The United States — the most significant player of the United Nations (UN) International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) Conference — is snubbing the talks following President Donald Trump’s cancellation of more than 80% funding of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programmes shortly after taking office in January.

The 4th FfD4 Conference has opened today in the southern Spanish city of Seville, as member states are expected to discuss global inequality amid a significant financial loss following the USAID funding cut.

The once-in-a-decade event, being held from today to Thursday, aims to address pressing global concerns, including hunger, poverty, climate change, healthcare and peace.

At least 50 world leaders have gathered in Seville — being led by UN Secretary General António Guterres, host Prime Minister Pedro Sanches Perez-Castejon, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, among others.

More than 4,000 representatives from businesses, civil society and financial institutions are also participating in the fourth edition of the event — but the group’s most significant player, the US, is conspicuously missing.

In March, US State Secretary, Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration had cancelled more than 80% of all the USAID programmes.

Moreover, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France are also making cuts to offset the increased spending on defence, being imposed by Trump on NATO members.

But the series of cuts to developmental aid is concerning, with global advocacy group Oxfam International saying the cuts to development aid were the largest since 1960. The UN also puts the growing gap in annual development finance at $4 trillion.

‘Seville commitment’

The FfD4 Conference organisers have said the key focus of the talks is restructuring finance for the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted at the last meeting in 2015 and expected to be met by 2030.

But with shrinking development aid, the goals of reaching the SDGs in five years, which include eliminating poverty and hunger, seem unlikely.

Earlier in June, talks in New York produced a common declaration, which will be signed in Seville, committing to the UN’s development goals of promoting gender equality and reforming international financial institutions.

Zambia’s permanent representative to the UN, Chola Milambo, said the document shows that the world can tackle the financial challenges in the way of achieving the development goals, “and that multilateralism can still work”.

However, Oxfam has condemned the document for lacking ambition and said “the interests of a very wealthy are put over those of everyone else”.—Edited by Maravi Express